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Kanthal showcases world-leading heating technology with fastest pizza

There are many secrets behind a perfect pizza, but heat is definitely one of the most important factors. Using electric heating, the engineers at Swedish industrial heating technology company Kanthal managed to reduce the time it takes to bake a traditional Neapolitan pizza from 90 to 37 seconds.

Neapolitan pizza, considered by many to be the gold standard of pizza styles, is usually baked in about 90 seconds in around 450°C. As an experiment, Kanthal decided to try to reduce that time drastically while still maintaining quality. To be able to do that, R&D expert Björn Holmstedt at Kanthal was faced with the challenge of building an oven that would not only deliver high temperature without burning the pizza, but also be so precise that the whole pizza baked perfectly.

“I always enjoy taking on a tough challenge, and since I know that heat plays such a crucial part in pizza making, I saw this experiment as a perfect match for us. As Kanthal’s technology can produce heat up to 1850°C, high temperature is not a problem. However, pizza making is a precision craft. Therefore we also needed to leverage our technology to provide a high and precise temperature that we could easily control”, says Björn Holmstedt, Senior R&D Professional at Kanthal.

During the experiment, Kanthal succeeded in baking a traditional Neapolitan pizza in just 37.55 seconds with an oven consisting of eight porcupine elements in the iron-chromium-aluminium alloy Kanthal® AF, heated to a temperature of 900°C.

The pizza, a traditional Naples style with tomato sauce and mozzarella, was made together with chef Oskar Montano, co-owner of the Stockholm-based artisanal pizza restaurant 800°. From his years living in Italy, Montano knows how the perfect pizza should look and taste.

“I am surprised. I never thought this would be possible. As a chef I’m passionate about creating the perfect pizza and I’m always looking to improve what I do”, says Oskar Montano. “No detail is too small. Björn from Kanthal shared this ambition, and we have worked closely together dedicated to succeed”.

Kanthal, part of Sandvik group, is one of the global leaders in industrial heating, providing a wide variety of industries with sustainable heating products and services. As one example, Kanthal is helping companies in many industries transition from fossil fuels to electricity. To maintain this level of innovation, collaboration is key – and although this was the first time ever partnering with a pizza chef, Kanthal has a long history of progressive partnerships.

“This experiment stands as proof that together with our customers, we can come up with innovative solutions to solve most challenges. We have had some of our partnerships for over 20 years and we work closely with our customers as we develop our products and services. The pizza oven demonstrates how Kanthal’s technology and innovative thinking can contribute to any industry”, says Dilip Chandrasekaran, Head of R&D at Kanthal.

Fast facts

The oven is built on the infrared heating principle, meaning that it uses electromagnetic radiation to heat up the object it hits.

In addition to the electromagnetic radiation, there are reflectors that help to spread the heat.

The oven has eight porcupine elements in the iron-chromium-aluminium alloy Kanthal® AF , four in the upper part and four in the lower part of the oven. The element temperature is 900°C.

The Kanthal® AF wire can be used at temperatures up to 1300°C.

Kanthal® AF alloy was chosen for its exceptional shape stability at high temperatures together with very good oxidizing qualities.

The porcupine design of the spiral element provides good temperature uniformity as the radiant heat together with the larger surface of the coil contributes to a better performance of the elements.